Pubdate: Mon, 28 Jul 2003
Source: Wisconsin State Journal (WI)
Copyright: 2003 Madison Newspapers, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.wisconsinstatejournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/506
Author: Brenda Ingersoll

CITY MAN APPEALS DEPORTATION ORDER

Immigration Service Doesn't Relent Though Conviction Cut

A Madison man who was to be deported to Afghanistan because of a felony 
drug conviction is languishing in federal custody, although the Dane County 
prosecutor reduced his conviction to a misdemeanor four months ago in a bid 
to stop the deportation.

"I'm pretty depressed. I haven't seen my mother in more than a year," said 
Mirwais Ali, 24, who was raised in Madison, graduated from East High School 
and said he'd be lost in Afghanistan, where he knows no one and doesn't 
understand the language.

Ali

Ali's parents fled the violence of the Russian occupation of Afghanistan 
when he was 3. His mother, Saleha Ali, became an American citizen in 1991, 
mistakenly believing that her citizenship conveyed citizenship on her only 
son. Mirwais Ali said he would have applied for citizenship himself after 
he reached 18, but he'd already had several mostly minor scrapes with the 
law and thought he'd be turned down.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (now called the Bureau of 
Citizenship and Immigration Services) began deportation proceedings against 
Ali in 2001because a Dane County judge revoked Ali's probation on a 1998 
drug charge and sentenced him to 27 months in prison.

Last fall, Ali's family had hopes for a speedy release after Dane County 
District Attorney Brian Blanchard said he would change the 1998 felony 
conviction, for possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, to a simple 
misdemeanor. Police had stopped Ali on State Street, where they found him 
with a plastic bag containing six individually wrapped bags of marijuana. 
The felony drug-trafficking conviction had been the basis for a May 16, 
2002 deportation order by an immigration judge in Chicago. On March 7, 
Blanchard amended the conviction to a misdemeanor, which is not a 
deportable offense.

Ali's lawyer, Taher Kameli of Chicago, then swung into action. Kameli, who 
took Ali's case for free, immediately asked the Board of Immigration 
Appeals to reopen Ali's case. The board refused on May 21. Kameli then 
asked the board to reconsider, pleading that the reduced conviction 
entitles him to stay in the United States. The request is pending.

Meanwhile, Kameli also appealed the 2002 deportation order to the U.S. 
Court of Appeals. Last fall, the court stayed Ali's deportation, pending 
the outcome of his appeal.

"I am asking two different courts to hear his case," Kameli said. "If one 
says no, hopefully the other will say yes."

In a brief filed July 21 with the U.S. Court of Appeals, Kameli argued that 
Ali likely would be tortured as an American spy by Afghan authorities if he 
is deported. "His demeanor, his tongue, his style, his memories, his family 
ties, his attitude, his actions, his clothes, his education, his behavior, 
and his dreams -- they are all American," Kameli argued. "The Afghan 
authorities are not fond of American life and American people."

Ali said he regrets breaking the law and the hurt it has caused his 
parents, Saleha Ali, 59, and Najaf Ali, 61. He's being held at the 
Tri-County Detention Center in Ullin, Ill., where he spends his days 
exercising and turning to his Muslim religion.

"I just work out in my cell and read my Quran," he said. "Every time I get 
depressed, I do some pushups to keep my mind off it. I miss being with my 
family the most, especially my father, who is a stroke victim. My mother 
can't drive because the car broke down and she can't afford to fix it.

"My father's in a nursing home," Ali added. "He refused to eat until I got 
out of jail and his health is deteriorating and he's afraid he's going to 
die before I get out."

Ali said in a telephone interview that he also spends time gazing at 
freedom through his cell window. "I just look out the window and see the 
birds moving and the trees moving, and my life is moving by me, too," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens